itssadbutdrew-blog

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

i love my job.

I love my job, I’ve had It for almost 6 years. I love the folks I work with, I believe in the products we make and I am proud to have been a part of the growth of this company. I am approaching my mid 30’s and Ive started to want more from life, more than my current job can give me. This has provided me with a paranoia and new level of anxiety in the past year.

 I’ve applied and interviewed for a handful of new gigs in the past year, and none of which I seem to be fully qualified for. I realize my lack of requisites for these positions but still tried hard anyhow. I do not intend on taking a parallel move, if it is not a next step I’d just assume stay at the current job that I enjoy. The bike industry is small, and you almost need to know about a position that other applicants don’t know about!

Being shot down for a few key gigs hasn’t got me down, but I have narrowed my search into a more definite path and decided that for the sake of my upward mobility that I should just supplement the current job I like with another job I like.

With that said dear cycling industry and bike race friends, I am looking for a team to work with as a mechanic, or a team, bike industry brand or race promoter in marketing, promotional or in planning.

 If you are reading this than you probably know how to contact me, you probably know my palmares already but please pass this along. And I’ll not bore you with the churched up version of my details that you already are aware of.

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

Further, down east...

1) create proposal, submit to race promotors. 2) get commitment from race promotors. 3) determine expenses, resources, schedule, create budget with buffer. 4) keep communication up and collect data/info all season long. 5) ask for money from sponsors. 6) present a south eastern regional CX series / championship in the 2014 season ( non-uci but USAC, HEY! dont get all worked up)

some how i am in multiple steps all at one time. somehow after every one warned me that this would be a headache i am still trucking along. i do it for the love, for the need to feel involved, for the south east's development.

the hard part? a title.

southeast first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5S7RJWC8MM

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

Race Promoters, Mechanics, Officials. Racers, be thankful for them.

After cutting my race season short this past year, I did not participate in nationals or worlds as I had the year before for my age group race BUT I was at Nationals and Worlds participating in a different capacity. I went to Nationals in Wisconsin to work in the pits for a local collegiate team and also a woman racing in the elite national title race. I was at the Master’s Worlds races to work the pit for three of the age category races… two of which earned medals. Any one paying attention could tell you that these were two of the worst conditions events of the year! Ice, mud, muddy ice and the master’s events at worlds were with out functioning power washers.

 Cyclocross, especially in the most competitive level is incredibly dependent on mechanics. Not to detract from the efforts of the athletes but elite races have been won by the best-cleaned bikes at times. Those not lucky (or rich) enough to have a pit mechanic in their entourage owe the neutral race mechanics a waffle between races and a beer when they are packing up. We all owe the neutral mechanics some gratitude at bare minimum weather we use their services or not because they are there in the cold and getting dirty for the love.

 Understandably your local grassroots race series may not be able to provide a neutral race service crew but the course no doubt has a pit and perhaps the grounds crew lets you use the park’s water spigot just so you don’t have to put a muddy bike on the roof of your car. Make sure the race promoters are aware of how appreciative you as a racer are that they have provided you with these amenities. A little gratitude goes a long way in to preserving the resources the race crew contributes.

 As racers we often take for granted all that goes into presenting a race to the public. For those racing you show up, get a number pinned on race, go visit the beer garden, heckle whatever race is next and go home happy. It is excellent that the cyclocross race atmosphere is generally happy, family friendly and a party. We have avoided the “US V.S. THEM” atmosphere that many other cycling events have come to know. It is my goal to preserve the enjoyable atmosphere that keeps promoters active within the discipline of cyclocross. Race promoters are barely scraping by, any extra money after an event probably goes to their club or other beneficiary so your enjoyment and feedback is what keeps them interested in keeping these races alive.

I am running for the At-large seat on USA Cycling’s Cyclocross committee this year. I would be honored to serve my fellow cyclists on this committee. The election will be held starting July 15th and voting will close on August 16th. You may vote via your account on http://www.usacycling.org or by mail with a requested ballot.

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

Change starts from within.

Last December I went to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to attend USA Cycling’s Bill Woodul Race Mechanic Clinic. This clinic is attended by and hosted by some of the cycling industry’s best as well as people looking to get into a tech job in the bike industry or with a race team. The USA Cycling and USOTC personnel are incredibly hospitable and helpful.

  Not only did I leave the clinic with my USAC Race Mechanic license and my USAC Race Official license, I left with a much warmer feeling for USAC than I had before based on previous interactions and altercations. Getting to know some of the folks that make things happen and knowing just how things happen at USAC gave me a greater respect for the processes that create policy with in the organization. That being said I am sure we can all agree that some odd decisions get made along the way enforcing some inconsequential rules as well as some resources and benefits getting misallocated as a result.

  I feel that if I am elected for the At-Large seat on the USA Cycling Cyclocross committee I can help keep policies ecumenical between all license holders, race permit applicants, officials, sponsors and spectators alike with in the cyclocross community.  Sometimes policies get set into place with out a fully explained reason keeping those affected confused and upset. My aim is for transparency, reason, and good faith for all involved weather applying new policies or amending existing ones.

   I am running for the At-large seat on USA Cycling’s Cyclocross committee this year. I would be honored to serve my fellow cyclists on this committee. The election will be held starting July 15th and voting will close on August 16th. You may vote via your account on http://www.usacycling.org or by mail with a requested ballot.

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

a Vote for Drew is a Vote for YOU!

As cycling fans we have a much stronger attachment to our fan fare than typical “ball” sports fans because, well most of us are actually cyclists! I know plenty of people where Golf, Football, Hockey, etcetera are a part of who they are but I do not know of many other sports fans that are truly defined by their interest like cyclists are. I believe this is why we take it harder when doping hits the headlines or when one of our own is involved in an accident.

  This bond with our fan fare is deeper than the bond an arm chair quarterback has with his home team. We see heroic moves in the mountain stages, elbows bumping in the bunch sprint, or that missed line in the sand at Koksijde. Even though we’re not those guys we though do know that feeling of pushing our own personal limits and we share that relationship. As fans we also create our own community, our own jokes, our own brands and our own sense of accomplishments. To the outside world none of this is worth anything! No one gets it. No one out of our cycling world even sees this stuff, but it is all culturally relevant in the long run.

  Being cycling fans we tend to enjoy a bit of every discipline, but just as Mark Cavendish Sprints, Steve Peat descends, Jerimiah Bishop has endurance or Sven Nys doesn’t slip in the mud... Even though we are all cyclists by identity we still specialize and excel in one arena. My cycling identity is Cyclocross.

  With my Identity wrapped up in cyclocross it has a lot of gravity in my life. It has weight on my social life, it has weight in my professional life. It has weight in my life as a consumer and it affects the value I have to my fellow humans.

  I am running for the At-large seat on USA Cycling’s Cyclocross committee this year. I would be honored to serve my fellow cyclists on this committee. The election will be held starting July 15th and voting will close on August 16th. You may vote via your account on http://www.usacycling.org  or by mail with a requested ballot.

  Thank you,

~Drew

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

Five of Ten good things.

Back on track here with my "Ten good things" posts.

Number Five here is Collegiate racing. I've already covered Jr's but think, Jr's have to have a place to go as espiors. Here in the south east we've got a lot of good collegiate programs. Pro level staff for some of these teams really takes the kids to the next level, and hell some of them ARE already at the next level and racing on UCI trade teams.

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

So, we lost the USGP and what i think it means.

Interrupting my Ten good things posts to be a little negative, but a lot realistic. 

So the USGP has been taken off of the slate for this year, and our country is at an all time high with Cyclocross participation so i cannot even begin to address HOW the fuck this happens. I have been thinking hard about what this all means though.

My first concern is the trickle down of lost sponsorship. I would have to believe that the dudes regularly in the top ten on the USGP circuit have sponsors that care about the cohesion of this series. Sure these races will still go on and will probably keep their UCI sanctioning however with out being able to tout having racers ranking "X" on the USGP circuit than perhaps they will be less interested in investing into this sport.

My next concern is with the UCI taking US cyclocross seriously. We just hosted WORLDS! and it was awesome, i hope you were there and at the #FOAMPARTY. We're staring down potentially hosting a World Cup event in the 2014 season... BUT we cant keep the country's biggest UCI series alive. Yes, luckily we do have other UCI series' in the states but they are all regional.

That last sentence brings me to another concern. Who is to say that this happening wont scare other regions from coordinating their own series such as this hypothetical one i posted about before: http://itssadbutdrew.tumblr.com/post/40931597518/secx  

I am sure pretzel logic will lead me to other concerns, but i will end this post by saying this: Support the companies that put money into the sport folks. These sponsors risk a lot of money and usually loose it, and i will tell you as a person that works in the bike industry that most companies see sponsorship as a necessary evil. These companies do it for the love, and have their pick of how the evil is distributed because it's lost once it is spent any way you look at it.

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

Four of Ten good things.

NAHBS. The North American Handmade Bike Show has been a february staple since 2005. this show comes at the beginning of the year and gets many of us inspired to ride more, to seek creation and just to realize that cycling is BIGGER than just racing. Sure, i'd be willing to bet a lot of frame builders are dopers... but of the sticky green kind.

These shows often polarize cyclists by carving out niche after sub niche however in a way that shares a common thread. Every year you'll no doubt see a common trend, first it was track bikes, then dutch city bikes, cargo bikes, cyclocrossers and now fat bikes are the "in" custom. There always seems to be some zeit geist to whats going on in these guy's shops.

cha!

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

Three of Ten good things.

In the third post in this series i am giving a shout out to good ol' Merican' Criterium racing. WOOO. 

in a sport shrouded by European traditions and history we find the bulk of road racing in the US are crits. This is good for many reasons, one being that even though road cycling's roots are in Europe, it doesnt have to be the same sport really here in the USA. We've got our fair share of road races too but from march through september the NCC calendar is where our pros go to make  monies. 

Criteriums turn down town areas in to festivals around these dash for cash races and are very dynamic yet easy for spectators to follow. from now until october there is not a weekend with out a criterium on it on USA Cycling's schedule and that is very good for the development of cycling as a popular sport in the US.

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

Two of Ten good things

this post is about the current state of juniors racing. the next crop of american racers are competing at a level never before seen. we have "kids" like Curtis White and Logan owen as podium regulars in Belgium at cyclocross world cups for crying out loud. We have american kids winning Kermesse races.

on the grass roots level you have just really great famillies who support their children racing (i am looking at you Eastern TN) 

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

One of Ten good things.

with all this SHIT in cycling media, you cant even see a bike review with out a reference to Lance, Postal, doping, shit, shit, shit. I'm kicking off TEN posts with positive things about cycling going in the right direction.

To start this series off, i am going BIG and Obvious. I want to turn your attention to the one and only Anthony Clark (@tweakn101 #SWL) because we should all be so excited to ride our bicycles as he is. Noting but positivity and love, This JAM Fund rider is the FRICKEN definition of STOKED to be smashing pedals and shredding carbon wheels. 

http://www.cyclingdirt.org/speaker/10739-Anthony-Clark/video/660795-Anthony-Clark-I-train-in-a-basement-I-dont-get-paid-CSI-Day-1

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

A Few Words About Worlds

i am still very over whelmed. 4 years ago when i decided to "get serious" about cross, that just ment i wanted a rad, brag worthy bike and that i wanted to be a top 10 cat3 kind of guy. i diddnt really train, i just did a lot of riding.

i started watching euro races being streamed i started reading articles in magazines. i started to become acquainted with who certain pro racers were. i also started riding with local fast guys. i began to start getting results!

next season i trained. and surpassed cat3 top ten guy goal. this season we also learned that the US would get to host Cyclocross world championships in 2013. It would only be a 6ish hour drive from home and i knew it would change the climate of Cyclocross in the states, especially in our region.

Last year, Louisville got a dress rehearsal for 2013  world championships by hosting that year's 2012 masters world championships. i, with a racing age of 31 qualified to do the 30-35 age category and had to participate simply so i can say i did. this year we went to watch the very best racers in the world line up to compete, and so did the entire US bicycle industry and a good portion of the rest of the world's bicycle industry. 

i expected all of the industry types to be there, as well as fans... i diddnt expect the amount of fans we had, i diddnt expect the magnitude of this championships to matter to as many people as it did.

i am still riding the high for how special this all was and how much cyclocross has developed in the US. we may experience a lul in the coming seasons nationally now that this is all over but here in the south east and mid-atlantic area i think we'll continue to grow the sport with more and more races on the calendar  more and more national level racers in our events and with our eyes down the road to when my home of Asheville NC will host USAC cyclocross national championships in 2016.

oh and there was a foam party too.

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

SOUTH EAST CYCLOCROSS SERIES PLS? K, THX!

What’s up blawg?

You can’t front on the fact that Cyclocross in the US is getting HUGE for a relatively obscure sport. I think all cycling cultures embrace it in one way or another… we have “alleycross” from the urban crowd, and “ultracross” coming from the endurance MTB crowd. There are other spinoffs too from different walks of cyclists, but I bring these up for a reason with a specific gravity. These exist in a rare consistency in the South Eastern states. The South East has a lot of State CX races, but why don’t we have a regional series? How about something cohesive to develop our racers, a series that could develop into a future UCI series.

Down here we have a lot of enthusiasm for bike racing. We have professional teams, lots of criteriums, and a good chunk of the bike industry located here. There are some very well attended State CX series. These State series’ often share participants across state borders; why not share points from one race from each series to raise the level of competition here in the South East? Sure it’s great to win your category in your local series, but what do we have for those who want to be their categories best in the region? How can we get our region to the levels New England, the Mid West and the Pacific North west have gotten? NC will be hosting Nationals in 2016 after all. Lets step up to the plate.

www.http://nccyclocross.com/ let’s start here, my home state series. A high level of competition exists here in ALL categories, and we have a UCI c2 race. The UCI race is a great, professionally hosted event, sure it could use a little bit of new life breathed into it after these past few years but it still draws some big names and all the lower categories fill up.

http://www.msgcross.com/wordpress/ This series is a fun one, these races are in eastern Tennessee, draw a crowd from western NC and northern VA. These guys are developing some serious juniors right now. They have a mix of parks and rec and private venues for the beer induced heckling even though the series is clearly catered to a family oriented group of racers. MSG hosted a UCI cross race in Kingsport TN for a couple of years. I feel this race could return to the calendar with better participation from the region, I do not think the race’s regular participants were enough to justify the work and cost of UCI sanctioning.

Tennessee also has Knoxie Cross in the mid-state and Memphis TN hosts one of the longest running CX races in the USA: http://www.cxmagazine.com/memphis-celebrates-longest-running-cyclocross-race-nation

http://www.bamacross.com/ you may have seen these folk’s race series tee-shirt featured on www.allhailtheblackmarket.com because it is bad ass. The shirt alone lets you know they get it. A few of us from Asheville made it down to Anniston AL for their Double Down race weekend, fricken awesome course. You guys know I HATE parks and rec races. They are typically watered down “make the most of it” courses because the parks can handle the crowd. This course had a little bit of everything that make a great cross course, long laps fun crowds, good competition and one of the two races was at night under the lights.

I could go on and on about the Anniston race, but they have an entire series.

http://flcx.org/ we are all aware that Florida has a lot LOT of cyclists, and it seems as if they are embracing cyclocross. This series seems to run a little later in the season than most do, which is RAD. I doubt any one would complain about heading to Florida in mid January for a race escaping the winter’s cold.

So, there are four states with healthy, sustaining cyclocross series’ that’s a start! That is enough for each series to dedicate one race to the South East CX series, perhaps crown a South East CX champion per category based on points? Just an idea…

Georgia has a great cycling scene road cyclists and mountain bikers are all across the state but notably Athens GA, a college town in the foot hills that is home for a lot of US pro cyclists and a good portion of bicycle industry employees.

South Carolina, also home to a lot of South East cyclists has hosted some high-quality cyclocross races but with minimal patrons. The courses I have raced in Spartanburg SC, as well as Greenville SC have been amongst my favorites.

I believe participation in a regional series attracting out of state racers could invigorate the locals to participate in greater numbers benefiting the promoters.

There is also Virginia, a state with strong ties to the world of cycling especially with Richmond VA hosting the 2015 Road Worlds. The question I have about VA is weather they are considered South East or Mid-Atlantic.

I truly believe we have the makings of a perfect storm down here in our redneck states between racers, races, bike industry and other sponsors. It’ll be up to us to make this real though. This is more work than one person can handle and would require a lot of communication, coordination and transparency between promoters.

I don’t always have the most time to give, but I believe in this and will be glad to help with getting people in contact with others.

Peace, Love, and Quality Embrocation.

~Drew

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

buh-bye 2012 & CX season

Blawg!!!!!!!!!

Well, cyclocross season is over (for me) and ive ben enjoying my time over the holidays with my wife, friends and my family.  The season still exists with a few more races in my state’s series, plus Nationals and worlds this month. I still get up on Sunday morning to watch the live streams of superprestige, trofee and world cup races while drinking coffee and being immersed in the dutch language. There are few things in life that have given me the drive and satisfaction cycling does, Cyclocross elevates that to a level of gratification ive never achieved with out help of others.

My season this year started with a bang, then faded into ups and downs ending up in a lack of motivation and no competitive drive left in me. A heavy load at work and travel to Colorado ate into my training time and I became flat. This year was unlike last year where I steadily built into good form. Last season when I started getting good results, I was motivated and I wound up upgrading THEN I was met with chronic back pain. I know you can never know what to expect with time, but I wish I’d have been able to reach a full season like last year, despite the back pain and eventual physical therapy I went through.

This season I could tell I was on to something big. Our local Wednesday night training races start early and our west Asheville crew began a bi-weekly training group on the opposing Wednesdays to keep this momentum going. I was going stronger than I thought I would be so I went with it. My first real race this year was Charm City CX in Baltimore. It is an early season UCI race weekend where I lined up in the 2/3 “B” race. Due to late registration and no series points in the mid-atlantic CX series I was to line up 121st of 125 people. I finished that race in 20th place. I had no idea I could possibly hunt down 101 folks in a short 45 minute race with so many goddamn people clogging up the course!

I podiumed my first 1/2 race of the season in Kingsport TN, I won a 1/2/3 race in sparkle city SC and podiumed again in a 1/2 race in Anniston Alabama. These highs were still met with lows. Bad starts, blow ups and two DNF’s  I could go on and on as to why this is, work, training, life, equipment… but I want to rather focus on how to make this work out better for the next season, I loose sleep knowing I am capable but not living up to it.

A friend recently told me that her husband who is my age says he at this age doesn’t want to waste any more opportunity to race well, achieve, be fulfilled etc… you know I hadn’t really considered my age and that my ability to race as an elite amateur has now numbered years. Plans for next year are being made currently and I’ll be lining up my pins and getting ready to knock them down.

So gentle readers, as I hit the post button I put this rocky season behind me and bid you all a wonderful and fulfilling twenty thousand and thirteenth year A.D.

~Drew

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

My take on tubeless wheels.

Hi guys, i know i havent posted in forever, but it is because i've been racing a lot and computers are not as fun as bikes are.

This post is going to be about tubeless wheels in cyclocross. It is being covered by every magazine and webshite and loudly touted as the working mans solution to low pressure and needing a wide choice of tires. I decided that since i work for a company that wants to sell you wheels, and that we have our very own tubeless compatible wheels, and that i have prototyped them for 7 months now and that i have used the Stans alpha340 for a year and a half before that and that i actually race and sometimes do well i might have some weight to add to the discussion.

For the most part, i race on tubular wheels. I have a few sets with different tires for different conditions. I am lucky to be employed by a custom wheel manufacturer and that is the primary reason that i do have so many wheel sets. If i were like i figure the rest of my CAT2 compatriots are, i would probably only have a race set and a training set... or just the set that happens to be on my bike and i do think that tubeless wheels are the best choice for this crowd.

My daily driver / training wheel set is an early prototype of the Industry Nine I25 tubeless. I use these wheels to pre-ride a course, go on long gravel grinding training rides, single track, intervals at the field, commuting to work etc. In the 7 months i have ridden them i have flatted only once, when i ripped a side knob off of the tire riding a rocky section of single track leaving a hole too big for the sealant to fill. This is remarkable reliability and what i feel like the average joe privateer racer needs EVEN if on race day the tubies come out of the bag.

I dont think any one will ever be able to replace their 24 psi cotton / silk side wall compliance with a tubeless set up due to these things requiring a sturdier side wall and firm bead hook but it isnt unreasonable for a 150 lb rider to get below 30 psi. I think the two tires that'll shine the best on a tubeless set up are file treads, where a course that will benefit from the lower resistance will also want a little higher pressure or in wet greasy mud with some aggressive treads... these conditions are soft enough to allow higher pressure too.

it isn't conceivable for most people to have several wheel sets, but for most of us several tire sets are and certainly worth the cost.

the last point i will make here is maintenance. Most tubular wheels use internal nipples which cannot be trued with out removing the tire, tubeless wheels usually have traditional nipples. Sure sealant is needed and you may have to bug the bikes hop to use their compressor every time you want to change tires (mounting the tire tends to take more pressure fast than your floor pump can deliver) but in 7 months ive only had to freshen up the sealant twice.

thats about all i can think of to say on the subject, but feel free to ask any questions.

~Drew

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

bikes are a lot of fun

A few months ago a webbed series of events really turned me off from the road racing scene. I realized I had no business being part of it. I still follow it, understand it and have loads of respect for those who partake and will not rule out my future participation. 

I only began to race on the road to bolster my cyclocross racing attempts and I was paid back in aces this past year. Cyclocross demands the fitness of road racing with the handeling skills of mountain biking. I love everything about cyclocross, the scene, the crazy races, all of it.

I do now and have since I first did as a teenager genuinely LOVE riding my mountain bike. About two years I had a few crashes that scared me off of my bike for a while but I've learned how to ride the Pisgah terrain more confidently and I have been riding a lot lately. Ever since I abandoned the road racing (I still do road rides) and kind of quit paying attention to my training regimin I have probably increased my amount of riding by more than double, I appreciate riding with my wife, with my friends and sometimes my dog. I never end a ride with out a smile and I pay more attention to my friends and life. 

Bikes are great fitness tools, and racing creates a great sense of drive but i beg to all of you to not forget that bikes at the root level are a whole lot of fun. 

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

The real world

How did we do it? we let citys, paychecks, warehouses, cars, bottled water and even farms become symbols of what the real world is. Why did we do it? My how we have shaped reality since the industrial revolution!

Let's consider what the squirrel eating the bird feed off of your back porch considers the real world. Consider what your dog's reality is when it's peeing on a stump. Dont just think about National Geographic photos of bear preying on wild salmon in a stream, think about the nature closest to you right now... think about it's real world. That was our real world too a few generations ago.

My great aunt Heggie Lookadoo Johnson passed away this past week at the age of 106. She was born in a very real world era here in West NC, born in a time you were lucky to live past birth. What a great life to have had! how lucky to get to see the way the world has been shaped. The computer i type this on would have had me burned on a stake early in her life.

To Celebrate the world my great aunt knew and the way the world has become, remember that the real world was real before human kind and is the real world for the rest of what lives on this planet. The rest of this world's life could care less about our pay checks, grocery bills, social standings and this is what it looks like: